Your days are written in God's book!

“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:15-16 NIV)

Have you ever wondered about what your purpose in life is?

Most people, when they think about their purpose, are thinking about their vocation in life. They are looking at the smaller picture. The big picture, however, is about what you are created for. If you discover and take care of that first, all the smaller purposes, such as your job, will fall into place.

Finding Purpose

  • Seek God first.

If you do that, He takes care of all your needs (including helping you in all your other secondary purposes).

“But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)

  • Discover your “good works” purpose.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10). How do you discover your good works purpose? Ask God to fill you with “the knowledge of His will.”

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” (Col. 1:9-12)

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God grants you wisdom, knowledge, and understanding

“For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov. 2:6 NLT)

God grants wisdom, knowledge, and understanding! When you think about it, you could achieve practically anything if you possess these three qualities.

Here are how these three qualities are defined and how to get them

1.     Wisdom: the quality of having good judgment and common sense. Being wise.

The Bible says, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17)

How do you get it? You ask God for it; “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5)

2.     Knowledge: facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education.

The Bible says, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance.” (Prov. 1:5)

How do you get it? You seek it, “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” (Prov. 18:15)

3.     Understanding: the ability to understand something; comprehension.

The Bible says, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)

How do you get it? You incline your heart to it. “Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding,” (Prov. 2:2)

Quote:

“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. – Charles Spurgeon

Mike Frenchbible promises, wisdom, knowledge, understanding
You can throw off your old sinful nature and have positive change!

“Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” (Eph. 4:22 NLT)

Choose to change!

Negative changes happen automatically but positive changes don’t. You don’t have to do anything to get out of shape. You don’t have to do anything to weaken physically, mentally, socially, or spiritually. Just do nothing and over time you will suffer decline. Want positive change in your life? It’s not enough to dream of changing. It’s not enough to simply desire to change. Positive change is a choice you must actively make and requires making wise choices. In order for you to actually make positive change, you will need to make a strong decision to change. You must choose to change!

Change must be intentional

Choose and plan for how different you want to be in, say, six months. And, then in a year from now. Think it through and plan deliberately to make it happen in doable, measurable steps. Ask yourself: am I going to be healthier, stronger, and more mature? Am I going to be happier? Am I going to be less in debt? Am I going to be more like God wants me to be?

It requires a choice

It isn’t going to happen accidentally. If you are going to grow, you will have to change, and change means you will have to let go of some old things in order to grab hold of some new things. That’s always the case, but it’s worth it! The Bible verse at top says to “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life.” That involves self-examination, strong choices, and getting to work on a plan.

Ask God to help you

Ask God to help you in every area of need and in every step you take. He will help you!

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7:7)

“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14-15)

Mike Frenchbible promises, throw off your sinful nature
Healing Scriptures

Jesus never turned down anyone for healing

“I am the Lord who heals you.” (Ex 15:26)

The Bible says, “Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.” (Acts 10:28). This verse says that people were “oppressed by the devil.” Notice that their problems weren’t from God, but we’re from the devil! Jesus did good by healing all of them! Jesus was only limited by people’s lack of faith. Therefore, build up your faith by familiarizing yourself with the Word of God and what it has to say about healing, then believe and receive.

  • Jesus was only limited by other’s lack of faith 

“And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” (Matt. 13:58)

  • Build up your faith and receive healing

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing from the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17)

  • Jesus healed all kinds of sicknesses

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.” (Matt. 4:23-24 NIV)

  • Healing power flows from Jesus                                                 

“And the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.” (Luke 6:19 NIV)

  • He, Himself, took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses!                                                                                                                                    

“When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.’” (Matt. 8:16-17 NIV)

  • You can call on the elders of your church for healing                                                                                        

“Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” (James 5:14 NIV)

  • Believers can lay their hands on the sick                          and they will recover

“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18 NIV)

  • Speaking faith to yourself can make you well                                

“O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. (Ps 30:2 ESV)

  • Jesus heals the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others                                                                                                         

“Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.” (Matt. 15:30 NIV) 

  • Calling on the Lord for help can bring healing                                                   

“LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me.” (Psalm 30:2)

  • Speaking faith to yourself can make you well                             

“For she said to herself, ‘If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.’ But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, ‘Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And the woman was made well from that hour.”  (Matt. 9:21-22 NIV)

  • God sends His Word to provide healing                                             

“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destruction.” (Psalm 107:19-20 NIV)

  • By his wounds you have been healed                                                           

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

 Therefore…

 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:2-5 NKJV)

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God will lift you up when you do this!

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10 NIV)

What does it mean to humble yourself?

Being humble is not a popular concept in the world we live in. But, God says He will lift you up if you humble yourself before Him. Look at the definition of humble: not proud. Not thinking of yourself as better than other people. Having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance. Meek, deferential, respectful, submissive.

Humility not humiliation

It’s easy to confuse humility and humiliation. Humility is something we do voluntarily and humiliation is something that is inflicted on us.

Humility is the quality or condition of being humble. Here are some verses that talk about it.

God gives more grace to the humble

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6 ESV)

It leads to riches, honor and life!

“Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.” (Prov. 22:4)

It is the opposite of pride

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Prov. 11:2)

Therefore…

“Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves . . . You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to." (Phil. 2:3, 5-6 (NLT)

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 ESV)

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,” (Col. 3:12 ESV)

Quote:

”How does humility happen in your life? It happens by letting Jesus control your thoughts, heart, attitudes, and reactions. Growing in humility has to include Jesus.” - Rick Warren

Mike Frenchbible promises, humility, humble, humble yourself, pride
Trust and be blessed!

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” (Jer. 17:7 NIV)

Want to be blessed, here’s how!

Confidently trust in the Lord! The following verse explains the details of the blessing.

“They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jer. 17:8)

Another place in the Bible says something very similar

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.” (Psalms 1:1-3)

Therefore…

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5 ESV)

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” (Psalm 37:5 ESV)

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” (Isa. 26:3-4 ESV)

Mike Frenchbible promises, trust, blesses
Jesus increased socially and so should you!

“And Jesus increased… in favor with man…” (Luke 2:52d) “As he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17b NIV)

Favor with man – Socially

Over the last three days I pointed out that according to Luke 2:52, as Jesus grew from a child into an adult, He increased in four distinct areas of His life: 1. Wisdom (mentally), 2. stature (physically), 3. favor with God (Spiritually) and 4. favor with man (socially).

Jesus was a perfect example of living a perfect balanced life. And, we should also increase in all four of these areas.

Yesterday I discussed the third area, favor with God, which is spiritually. Today will be the fourth one, “favor with man” which is the social area.

We are social creatures

We need others and they need us. God made us that way. He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” (Gen. 2:18). He created Eve for that reason.

In life, there are people we must be around in the course of daily life and there are close friends we choose to be around.

Bad friends can drag you down

You can’t always choose who you must associate with on a day to day basis, but you can choose your close friends. Choose wisely!

“The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” (Prov. 12:26)

“Take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.” (2 Peter 3:17)

Good and faithful friends speak truth into your life

“Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” (Prov. 27;5-6)

Mike Frenchbible promises, increase socially
Jesus increased spiritually and so should you!

“And Jesus increased… in favor with God…” (Luke 2:52c) “As he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17b)

Spiritually

Over the last couple of days, I pointed out that according to Luke 2:52, as Jesus grew from a child into an adult, He increased in four distinct areas of His life: 1. Wisdom (mentally), 2. stature (physically), 3. favor with God (Spiritually) and 4. favor with man (socially).

Jesus, without a doubt, was a perfect example of living a perfect balanced life. We also should work to increase in all four of these important areas.

Yesterday I discussed the second area, stature, which is physically (the body). Today will be the third one, “favor with God” which is the spiritual area.

How to begin

You can do a lot to grow spiritually, but it all begins with becoming a child of God by receiving Jesus Christ as your personal savior. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)

When you receive Christ, His Holy Spirit comes inside of you and will help you grow spiritually. (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14; John 14:17).

How the Holy Spirit helps you

  • He teaches you (1 Cor. 2:13; John 14:26).

  • He guides you into all truth (John 16:13).

  • He reveals the deep things of God to you (1 Cor. 2:10).

  • He transforms you into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).

  • He strengthens your spirit (Eph. 3:16).

Practical things you can do to grow spiritually

1) Pray. Talk to God about everything. He hears you. He cares for you. He will help you grow closer to Him.

2) Read the Bible every day. It is God’s Word to us. The Bible is literally “God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16).

3) Memorize scripture. The Bible is a book of tremendous wisdom that can have an impact on every area of your life. By memorizing the Scripture, you are able to have that wisdom with you at all times.

4) Attend a Bible believing, Bible preaching church each week where you will continue to grow in His knowledge and grace.

5) Read good Christian books. Visit a Christian bookstore and there you will find shelves of great books for encouragement and spiritual growth.

6) Listen to Christian music. You can find it on Christian radio stations and you can find it in every style at your Christian book store.

7) Join a small Bible study group. Most churches have them. They usually meet in private homes, coffee shops and restaurants. You usually grow spiritually at a faster rate in community because you are able to share your experiences with one another and hold each other accountable.

8) Listen to Christian speakers. There are lots of them.

9) Volunteer for Christian service. Helping others is a great pathway towards spiritual growth. As you help others, God helps you!

“Be no longer children, but grow up in Christ.” (Eph. 4:14-15)

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)

Mike Frenchbible promises, jesus increased spiritually
Jesus increased in stature and so should you!

“And Jesus increased… in stature…” (Luke 2:52b) “As he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17b)

Stature (Physically – Body)

Yesterday I pointed out that according to Luke 2:52, as Jesus grew from a child into an adult, He increased in four distinct areas of His life: 1. Wisdom (mentally), 2. stature (physically), 3. favor with God (Spiritually), and 4. favor with man (socially).

Jesus was a perfect example of living a perfect balanced life. And, we should increase in all four of these areas as well.

Yesterday I discussed the first area (wisdom), today will be the second one, “stature” which is the physical area, or simply put, your body.

We each have a body and we should take care of it for important reasons.

·  It is the temple of the Holy Spirit

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” (1 Cor. 6:19)

·  Honor God with your bodies

“You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (1 Cor. 6:20)

·  A healthy body enables you to do what God has created you to do

A healthy body helps you serve God and others better, so take care of it! Use common sense. Get plenty of exercise and eat healthy foods that include fruit and vegetables, avoid junk food, watch your weight, and get enough sleep at night. These are all things that you can control, and will help you be healthy and physically usable so you will be able to do whatever God has prepared for you to do.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:10).

Mike Frenchbible promises, increased in stature